Dow Up 173 on Housing, Retail

(NEWSER) - Markets were up today on a surging food sector and good data from the manufacturing and housing industries, the Wall Street Journal reports. A key manufacturing activity index jumped from May to June, and an indicator of pending home sales also climbed for the fourth straight month. Amid the gains, the dollar weakened on strong economic recovery news from China. The Dow jumped 57.06 to 8,504.06, the S&P rose 4 to 923.32, and the Nasdaq tacked on 10.68 to end at 1,845.72. More»

(NEWSER) - Good news from the housing sector outweighed bank troubles today for Wall Street, the Journal reports. Manufacturer Alcoa tacked on 6%, and a housing-industry group said sales in April made the biggest jump in 8 years. Financials fell after more banks announced plans to pay back TARP loans through stock offerings. The Dow was up 19.43 to 8.740.87. The S&P gained 1.91, ending at 944.78. And the Nasdaq rose 8.12 to 1,836.80. More»

Analyst chalks it up to psychology

(NEWSER) - Stocks had their best day in more than a week today, with the Dow jumping a whopping 322 points, while the Nasdaq and S&P gained 101 and 39 points respectively. Investors are betting that the Federal Reserve will heap more stimulus on the economy this week, Bloomberg reports, while a market analyst tells MarketWatch that the rally should be chalked up to “a shift in investor psychology.” More»

Dow sees triple-digit rise

(NEWSER) - Is the panic over on Wall Street? The Dow shot up around 131 points, and the S&P and Nasdaq were up 13.5 and 26.2 as of 9:39am EST. Part of the gain came from Google’s blockbuster acquisition of Motorola , which sent the latter’s stock up 60%, according to the Wall Street Journal . Traders were also watching two other major deals—Time Warner is reportedly close to an agreement to buy Insight Communications, and Bank of America sold its credit card portfolio to Toronto-Dominion Bank. More»

Market was down nearly 1,000 points in afternoon

(NEWSER) - Wall Street was in full panic mode today, as a drastic sell-off saw the Dow off nearly 1,000 points just one hour before the close, MarketWatch reports. A quick rebound followed, however, to less severe numbers. The Dow finished down 348 points at 10,520; Nasdaq fell 83 points to 2,320; and the S&P fell 38 to 1,128. For many traders, the chaotic freefall recalled the worst days of trading in 2008, when the wounds of the financial crisis were still fresh. More»